The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness

Title: The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 576, Audiobook ~23hrs
Date read: July 2016, December 2018

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. After travelling through time in SHADOW OF NIGHT, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home in France they reunite with their families - with one heart-breaking exception. But the real threat to their future is yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on a terrifying urgency. Using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the palaces of Venice and beyond, Diana and Matthew will finally learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.


Why did it take me this long to get started on this book? Once I did, I couldn't put it down, and finished it in just a few days.

Every bit as good as the first two books in the series, "The Book of Life" tied up all loose ends very nicely and served as a very satisfying ending to the trilogy. I'm actually kind of sad we won't get to hear more about Matthew and Diana, and feel positively book-hungover right now.

This trilogy is the kind of epic storytelling I love the most. It's "Outlander" with witches and vampires; just as rich in details and with just as large a supporting cast ;) It's difficult to say much about the plot without giving away spoilers for the two first books, but I think what I enjoyed the most was seeing Matthew and Diana's relationship with their families (both of blood and of loyalty) and watch Diana grow in powers and confidence as a witch. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when Diana and Janet sat to talk magic after the end of the book ;)